In Fort Worth Thursday, State Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, the Democrat running for lieutenant governor, rolled out her plan to provide a free, two-year college education to all qualified high school graduates.

Both major candidates for governor have launched statewide television commercials in the past week. Republican Greg Abbott’s second TV ad is in Spanish and English and features his Hispanic mother-in-law. But it’s Democrat Wendy Davis’ first statewide ad that’s grabbing attention.

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Wendy Davis, and the party's candidate for lieutenant governor, Leticia Van De Putte, pumped up party faithful at their state convention. It's the first time Texas has had two women leading a political ticket, and the invitation to female voters rang out loud and clear in their Friday night speeches.

Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis talked Tuesday about building the Texas economy while her Republican opponent Greg Abbott zeroed in on Hispanic voters by releasing a Spanish language television ad.

Cowboys mascot Rowdy offered high-fives and several team cheerleaders waved pompoms Wednesday at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport as they welcomed members of the committee choosing a site for the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Sen. Ted Cruz was notified Tuesday that he no longer has Canadian citizenship, something he automatically received because his parents were living in Canada when he was born. Cruz, a possible presidential candidate in 2016, filed papers to renounce his Canadian citizenship. He is a U.S. citizen because his mother is an American but the debate over whether he is "natural born" and qualified to be president may not be over.

In their new state platform, Texas Republicans suggest reparative therapy" for patrients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexuality." The platform also says "homosexuality is a chosen behavior," something most gays and lesbians reject. Gay Republicans say they had convinced many party delegates to back their efforts to remove offensive comments from the platform, but convention rules prevented the delegates from addessing the audience.

In meeting rooms and hallways at the Texas Republican Party Convention, delegates Friday hotly argued over whether a guest worker program should remain in their party platform. Gay Republicans fought to eliminate a plank that suggested reparative therapy be available for those who want to escape their gay "lifestyle."

Nationally, many tea party-backed candidates have been losing primary elections. But in Texas, tea party candidates are doing well – and they continued their winning streak during Tuesday’s runoff elections.

Leticia Van de Putte, the Democrat facing the newly-nominated Republican Dan Patrick in the lieutenant governor race, said Wednesday that his pledge to meet with minority voters comes after “insulting” them.